The detection of salivary glucose, caries and periodontal status in diabetes mellitus patients

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Oral manifestations in diabetic patients can have different causes. Possibly, one of these causes is salivary glucose. The aim of this study was to evaluate salivary glucose concentrations in patients with Type II diabetes mellitus (DM) and their association with oral and dental manifestations and compare them with normal adults. METHODS: In this analytical study, 128 patients with Type II DM and 132 non-diabetic healthy individuals were selected. The subjects’ blood and unstimulated salivary samples were collected. Salivary glucose concentrations were measured by glucose oxidase method. Then, the oral cavity and teeth were examined for oral manifestations such as ulcers, white and red plaques, lichenoid reaction, candidiasis and decayed missing filled teeth (DMFT) and periodontal disease index (PDI) indices. Data were analyzed by independent t-test and Pearson’s correlation test. RESULTS: The results of the present study showed that, in general, individuals with higher concentrations of salivary glucose had significantly higher DMFT and PDI, irrespective of belonging to the diabetic or the control group (P < 0.050). However, there was no significant correlation between salivary glucose concentrations and oral manifestations. Meanwhile, there was a significant correlation between salivary glucose concentration and glycated hemoglobin in diabetic patients compared with the control group (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The present study showed that the salivary glucose concentration had a positive association with DMFT and PDI in diabetic and non-diabetic patients. In this study, we found an association between salivary and blood glucose in diabetic patients.